Not much to say except I completely agree. :-) The complete-the-arrow paper ballots may be a little bit easier for people with failing eyesight or motor control than filling in a little bubble, but either way the basic idea just makes more sense than adding unnecessary opaqueness and complication. (And I speak as someone who always prefers the high tech approach. :-) )
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much of a constituency for a return to paper ballots. Electronic systems offer speed, high-tech sexiness, and motivated machine-vendors willing to spend time convincing officials, while paper is old-fashioned, cumbersome, and stodgy. But I haven't yet seen a compelling reason to have a voting system that's less accountable and more vulnerable to exploits, just because everything else is moving online.
That's what we're using here, now: Paper ballot with bubbles you fill in (with a pen, not a pencil), that gets scanned by a machine for tallying, but they keep the paper ballot (for a while, at least). At least that's what we're using in my district, and I think we were using it in 2008.
I also think the tallying machines should be required, by federal law, to be be running open-source software. The hardware design should be publicly available, too.
Paper ballots aren't perfect either. There's been an accusation of an election worker in Oregon taking early ballots that have slots left blank and filling in the Republican candidate.
We can require that all races include a "none of the above" bubble to make for fewer incomplete ballots. I would personally find it satisfying to use it when necessary. (Making "none of the above" binding - new election, none of the candidates on the previous ballot allowed to run for the office - would be even better, but not really relevant to the point about ballot technology.)
A pen is superior to a pencil, yes. Especially if the scanning machine is good enough to allow people to bring their own.
I don't think paper ballots are perfect. I do think they're superior to voting machines except for the special case of the disabled.
"None of the above" implies that you're actually choosing none of the above - it ought to be binding if it's phrased that way. Some variation on "Not voting" would be better.
I actually used my own pen in 2008, because I didn't see the bit about only using the official pen, and I carry around a better pen than the one they provided. So either my vote got discarded, or I've personally undermined the American democratic process.
The NY State combination they were using in my poling place of hand marked ballots and marking machines for those with special needs which are then machine scanned for a quick talley and stored locked for recounts by hand seems good. Now if we could get the scoring machine hardware and software opensources and publicly audited that would help.
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Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much of a constituency for a return to paper ballots. Electronic systems offer speed, high-tech sexiness, and motivated machine-vendors willing to spend time convincing officials, while paper is old-fashioned, cumbersome, and stodgy. But I haven't yet seen a compelling reason to have a voting system that's less accountable and more vulnerable to exploits, just because everything else is moving online.
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I also think the tallying machines should be required, by federal law, to be be running open-source software. The hardware design should be publicly available, too.
Paper ballots aren't perfect either. There's been an accusation of an election worker in Oregon taking early ballots that have slots left blank and filling in the Republican candidate.
Reply
A pen is superior to a pencil, yes. Especially if the scanning machine is good enough to allow people to bring their own.
I don't think paper ballots are perfect. I do think they're superior to voting machines except for the special case of the disabled.
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I actually used my own pen in 2008, because I didn't see the bit about only using the official pen, and I carry around a better pen than the one they provided. So either my vote got discarded, or I've personally undermined the American democratic process.
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